Automatic fire-alarm



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. I

0. A. 86 J. P. GOX. AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM.

No. 424,860. Patented Apr. 1, 1890.

(No Model.) a Sheets-Sheet 2.

O. A. & J. P. COX. AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM.

N0. 424,860. Patented Apr. 1, 1890.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

0. A. & J. P. 00X. AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM.

No. 424,860. Patented Apr. 1, 1890.

N. PETERS PhowLitho m lun walhin wn. 04 c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES A. COX AND JOSEPH F. COX, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-ALARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 424,860, dated April 1,1890.

Application filed October 11, 1889. Serial No. 326,687. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, CHARLES A. COX and JOSEPH E. Cox, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson andState of Kentucky, have invented certain. new and useful Improvements inAutomatic Fire-Alarms, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Our improvement has reference to automatic fire-alarm devices forhotels, factories, asylums, apartment-houses, and like service; and itconsists in the construction, arrangement, and combinations of partshereinafter described, and then definitely clai med, whereby efficientand simple means are provided in case of fire in any one of a series ofrooms or apartments to immediately and automatically sound an alarm inall of said rooms or apartments, and therebyindicate the presence offire in its incipiency.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents in front elevation.the main mechanism forming part of our improvement, the generalarrangement of external circuits and alarms being also diagrammaticallyindicated. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view showing acontactspring, contact-point, and connections on a larger scale, butwith parts left out of View to avoid confusion in the drawings. Fig. 3is a front sectional view illustrating another way of carrying out ourinvention. Fig. at shows how our apparatus maybe connected with a guestcall or other system of wires.

Referring now to the details of the drawin gs, A is a plate of somesuitable insulating material, which in practice is grooved on its rearface to receive the wireconnections 0, (shown in Fig. 2 as being looseat the back of the board to make them more distinct,) extending betweenthe binding-posts B B, said wires being also connected to contact-pointI), both binding-posts and contact-points ex.- tending through theboard. Upon the front face of the plate A is vertically mounted a pairof electro-magnets E, whose coils are connected to the main conductor bythe wire 6. A series of contact-springs F, fastened to bars F F andelectrically connected to the clock mechanism G by the wire g, are alsomounted upon the plate A.

At II is shown a slide suitably mounted in supports or bearings I I,secured to the plate A, and whose functions will be hereinafterexplained.

J is an armature controlled by the magnet E and normally held out ofcontact with the same by the spring 2'. This armature is pivotallyconnected at j to the plate A, adjacent to slide H, and carries aboveits pivotal connection a vertical arm K, notched at its top to receivethe lug L, secured to said slide H.

M M are rods mounted in suitable bearings m m, attached to plate A, andprovided with are secured a series of pins 0, which normally hold saidcontact-springs F outof electrical connection with the contact-points D.

G indicates a spring clock-work mechanism of the ordinary character,having a spurwheel G and a star-wheel p, the points of which, as thewheel revolves, are designed to alternately pass into electrical contactwith the spring P, and thereby cause an intermittent ringing of thewell-known make-andbreak alar1n-bells Y Y Y Y, one being located 8o ineach of the rooms of the hotel or like places above mentioned. By thisarrangement we are enabled to provide a fire-alar1n service which mayreadily be distinguished from other bell. service that maybe employed 85 in connection with this system.

R is a latch-lever, pivoted to the clocle frame, the long end of whichis pressed by the spring 07. against the pin 0', projecting from theslide ll, while the short end engages with spur-wheel G of the clockmechanism G, thereby preventing running down of the clock.

S S S S are the wire connections attached to the binding-posts l3 l3 BB, and are thus con- 9 5 nected with the main mechanism and to thealarm-bells Y Y Y Y in the different rooms, as shown, and T is thebattery-wire, forming part of the electrical circuit leading from thegenerator or battery X to the binding-post too m, which in its turn iselectrically connected with the spring P by the wire V.

T is a wire, extending from one side of the electro-ma-gnets E throughthe building and adjacent to the battery-wire T, and in case of firemakes connection therewith through a series of thermostats T T T T, in amanner well understood.

At U areshown springs secured to the plate A and arranged toelectrically contact with the projection U, secured to the under side ofthe rod H. Binding-posts B are secured to the upper portion of the plateA, and are in electrical connection with wires 0, Fig. 2, as beforementioned. By this arrangement our improvements may be used. inconnection with hotel guest-call systems, and thereby obviate thenecessity of additional wiring, &c. When this arrangement is desired,wires 1 1 1 1 (see Fig. 4:) lead directly from the main mechanism of aguestcall apparatus (such, for instance, as that shown in our patent,No. 400,750) to the binding-posts B, thence the circuit is completedthrough the wires 0, Fig. 2, binding-posts B, wires S S S, Figs. 1 and2, to room'alarm-bells, from alarm-bells through wire T to battery X,and thence direct to guest-call by wire 2. It is to be understood, ofcourse, that the circuits in the guest-call and fire-alarm apparatus areboth normally open. As we make no claim to the guest-call in thisapplication, it is unnecessary to describe it further, as it is onlygiven to show the way it or any guestcall or other system of wires maybe connected to our present invention.

In setting our improvement for use we place the plate A with itsattached mechan ism in the office of the hotel, factory, or otherbuilding in which itmay be desired to use it, and set in all the roomsan'electrical ther- ,mostat' of any approved form, all of whichthermostats should be connected with the wires '1 and T.

To set our device ready for automatic action, it is only necessary topush the slide H up until the lug L rests on the vertical portion K ofthe armature J. This upward movement of the slide H brings theprojection U into contactwith the springs U thereby completing thecircuit from wire XV to the magnets E. The said upward movement of theslide H, by means of the pin "1', secures the long end of thelatch-lever R against any downward movement, and thereby looks the clockmechanism, and at the same time the lever-arm N is forced upward, whichmoveheat cause the electrodes of any one of the thermostats to come intocontact with each other, the circuit would be completed as fol- :lows:from the thermostat through the battery-line T, battery X, wire 7',contact-springs U, electro-magnets E, line T, back to the thermostat.The electrmmagnets E being thus energized, the vertical arm K is drawn.nection with the same.

away from the lug L by the downward movement of the armature J, and theslide H, being free to move, drops down and by its movement breaks theelectric connection at U, disconnects the latch-lever R from theclockworks G, thus allowing the clock-work to operate and turn thestar-wheel and the contact-springs F to come into electric contact withthe room terminals or contact-points D, and thus the electricalconnection between the wires 0 0, leading to the room alarmbells, andthe clock-work G, through the wire g, is closed, and as many circuitsare closed by this movement of the slide H and rods M, combined with theaction of the springs F, we call this part of our apparatus a multipleXcircuit-closer.

F through the contact-points D, wires 0, binding-posts B, room-wires S SS, to the alarmbells in the several rooms, thence through thebattery-wire T, battery X, wire W, spring P,to star-wheel p in clockmechanism G, through wire 9 to contact-springs F, and th us thealarmbells are sounded in all the rooms automatically andsimultaneously. The bells being run intermittently by the making andbreaking of the circuit by the star-wheel p, the firealarm' may bereadily distinguished from that of the guest call-system, if employed incon- It will be obvious that when the slide H falls and each movablecontact touches the fixed contact all the bells are electricallyconnected, so as .to be operated by a single generator or battery. Bythe breaking of the circuit at U the liability of a shunt-circuitthrough the electromagnets E is obviated.

It'is customary when wiring a building for a bell service to place allthe wires in abunch or cable when running through hallways to theseveral apartments.

ing from the thermostats and that on the battery-line should bedestroyed, the bare wires may come into electrical contact with each'other, which might make an alarm throughtro-magnets arranged on eachside of th e. slide 11-. Instead of the lug L, Fig. 1, being secured tothe slide H, a short curved bar B Fig. 3, is centrally pivoted to therod H. Slightly above the bar B are secured two brackets B which serveto limit the movement of the said bar 13 Now, if 'any one of the linesleading from the thermostat should come into electrical contact with thebattery- Now, if by accident any of the insulation 011 one of the lineslead- The circuit is thus established as follows: from thecontact-springs IIO line, it would close the circuit through one of themagnets E E, Fig. 3, which would permit the rod H to drop only a smalldistance, because it is supported 011 the opposite side by the armatureof the magnet that has not been energized. The small distance that therod thus travels is only suliicient to close the office-bell circuit, asshown at A, Fig. 3, and thus sound a trouble-alarm only on theofficebell A on same figure. The very small distance traveled by therod, as explained above, is not sufficient to permit the springs F tocome into electrical contact with the contactpoints I), Fig. 2, andthereby sound a firealarm. If a fire occurs, both thermostats act, andthus close the circuit on both magnets E E, Fig. 3, which permits therod ll to drop sufficiently to allow the springs to come into contactwith contact-points D, Fig. 2. The wiring for the bells in this systemis the same as shown in Fig. 1. The return-wire from each bell isconnected to the battery in each system.

If a device containing onlyone pair of electro-magnets, as illustratedin Fig. 1, is used and an accident, as herein described, should happento the wires, a false alarm would be sounded, which might prove aserious matter in a crowded house. It will readily be seen that thedouble system is designed simply to avoid a general alarm in the eventof accident to the wires, as described.

Having thus shown how we at present prefer to carry out our invention,but without limiting ourselves to the exact construction there shown, weclaim as new- 1. The combination of an electric generator, an electromagnet and its armature, a circuit connecting the magnet and thegenerator, two or more thermostats and alarmbells, each bell having aseparate electrical connection leading to the main circuit, and eachelectrical connection having separable COlllJEl-ClkpOlllliS, amultiplexcircuit-closer, and a clock-work mechanism constructed and arranged tomake and break the circuit several times in succession to operate thealarmbells intermittently, substantially as described.

2. The combination of an electric generator, an electro-magnet and itsarmature, a circuit connecting the magnet and the generator, two or morethermostats and alarmbells, eachbellln'tvinga separate electricalconnection leading to the main circuit, and each electrical connectionhaving separable c011- tact-points, a multiplex. circuitcloser, acontact-point leadingto the generator, an d a clock mechanism having arevolving contact-wheel coacting with said contact-point to make andbreak the main circuit several times in succession, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination of an electric generator, an elcctroanagnet and itsarmature, a circuit connecting the magnet and the generator, two or morethermostats and alarmbells, each bell having a se ivarate electricalconnection leading to the main circuit, and each electrical connectionhaving separable contact-points, a multiplex circuit-closer, acontact-point leading to the generator, a clock mechanism having arevolving contact-wheel coacting with said contact-point to make andbreak the main circuit several times in sue cession, and a stop, as thelever B, for preventing the clock-work from running until the magnet hasbeen energized, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a series of thermostats, a series of alarnrbells,an electric generator, a magnet energized by said generator, an armaturetherefor, and intermediate 1necl1-- anism, substantially as described,constructed and arranged to normally hold the bells out of electricalconnection with the battery, an electrical conductor connected with thethermo'stats and magnets, another conductor connecting the generator andthe thermostats, a clock-work mechanism electrically connected with thebells, and means, as the star-wheel p and spring P, for intermittentlyconnecting the clock-work with the generator when one of the thermostatshas been excited, substantially as described.

5. The combination, in an electric alarm mechanism, of a series of fixedcontact-points electrically connected with a series of alarmbells, agenerator also electrically connected to the alarm-bells, a series ofmovable contacts, a magnet, an armature therefor, a slide. supported bysaid armature, and a horizontal rod engaging with the vertical slide andl1aving pins holding the movable contacts away from the fixed contacts,substantially as described.

G. The combination, in an electric alarm mechanism, of a series of fixedcontactspoint-s electrically connected with a series of alarmbells, agenerator also electrically connected to the alarm-bells, a series ofspring-contacts, a magnet, an armature therefor provided with a verticalarm, a slide resting on said arm, a horizontal rod having an armprojecting thercfrom resting on the slide, and aseries of pins pressingthe spring-contacts away from the fixed contacts, substantially asdescribed.

7. The combination, in an electric alarm mechanism, of a series of fixedcontact-points electrically connected with a series of alarmbells, agenerator also electrically connected to the alarnrbells, a series ofspring'contacts, a magnet, an armature therefor provided with a verticalarm, a slide resting on said arm, a horizontal rod having an armprojecting therefrom resting on the slide, a series of pins pressing thespring-contacts away from the fixed contacts, and a clock-work mechanismfor intermittently making and breaking the circuits between the batteryand the contacts when the two series of contacts touch each other,substantially as described. V

8. The combination, in an electric alarm mechanism, of a series of fixedcontact-points electrically connected with a series of alarm= bells, agenerator also electrically connected to the alarm-bells, a series ofspring-contacts, a magnet, an armature thereforprovided with averticalarm, a slide resting on said arm, a horizontal rod having an arm projeeting therefrom resting on the slide, a seriesof pins pressing thespring-contacts away from the fixed contacts, a spring P in'electricalconnection with the generator, and a clock-Work mechanism in electricalconnection with the movable contacts and having a star-wheel whosepoints make contact with the spring P, substantially as described.

9. The combination, in an electric alarm mechanism, of a series of fixedcontact-points electrically connected with a series of alarmbells, agenerator lso electrically connected to the alarm-bells, a series ofspring-contacts,

,a magnet, an armature therefor provided with a vertical arm, a slideresting on said arm, a horizontal rod having an arm projecting therefromresting on the table, a series of pins pressing the spring-contacts awayfrom the fixed contacts, a spring P in electrical connection with thegenerator, a clockwork mechanism'in electrical connection with themovable contacts and having a star-wheel whose points make contact withthe spring P, and a stop engaging with one of the wheels of theclock-work, substantially as described.

10. The combination, in an electric alarm mechanism, of a series offixed contact-points electrically connected with a series of alarmbells,a generator also electrically connected to the alarm-bells, a series ofspring-contacts, a magnet, an armature therefor provided with a verticalarm, a slide resting on said arm, a horizontal rod having an armproject-- ing therefrom resting on the table, a series of pins pressingthe spring-contacts away from the fixed contacts, a spring P inelectrical connection with the generator, a clockwork mechanism inelectrical connection with the movable contacts and having a star-wheelwhose points make contact with the spring P, and a latch having one endengaging with a wheel of the clock-work and the other end slide,substantially as described. I I i 11. The combination, in an electricalarm mechanism, of a series of fixed contact-points electricallyconnected with a series of alarm bells, a generator also electricallyconnected to the alarm-bells, a series of spring-contacts, a magnet, anarmature therefor provided with a vertical arm, a slide resting on saidarm, a horizontal rod having an arm projecting therefrom resting on theslide, and a series of pins pressing the spring-contacts away from thefixed contacts, and a circuit-breaker on the slide to break theconnection between the battery and magnet as the slide descends,substantially as described.

12. The combination, in an electric alarm mechanism, substantially asherein described, provided With two sets of thermostats and appropriatecircuits, andtwo independentlyoperating magnets and correspondingarmatures, each having a vertical arm, of a slide having a pivotedcross-bar resting on said arms, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures, in presence of twowitnesses, this 8th day of October, 1889.

CHARLES A. COX. JOSEPI-l F. COX. \Vitnesses:

M. N. MULLEN, RoBr. BALLARD.

